Following the Martian Coastline

Mercury, September/October 2005 Table of Contents

Courtesy of NASA/USGS

by Gabrielle A. Gianelli

It seems scientists and laypeople alike have wondered for quite a long time whether or not water exists on Mars. Italian astronomer Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli made the bold and widely popularized claim in 1877 that he had discovered water canals on Mars: even though he was convinced of their existence and believed them to be of natural origin, he did not think it impossible that the canali were artificial and created by sentient beings. But where on Mars were the bodies of water filling the canali?

Since the late reaches of the 19th century, we have come to know that Schiaparelli's canali were figments of his and others' (do not forget American businessman Percival Lowell's passion to understand the Martian canals) imaginations. Yet we also are compelled to believe that in the past there were large bodies of water on the Martian surface.

Knowing where those large bodies of water once were is the next step in our understanding of the planet for three reasons. First, such knowledge will aid researchers in the exploration of Mars because if the location and existence of ancient oceans can be pinpointed, scientists can send probes to study these special areas. Consider, for example, that the area postulated as the site of an ancient northern ocean is smoother than those in the southern regions: the area could provide landing sites that would permit further investigation of the putative coastline.

A second reason we should determine the sites of ancient Martian seas is that if water once existed on Mars, it is possible that conditions for life obtained on the planet in the past and possibly even persist into the present. The discovery of life or its remains on another world would allow scientists the opportunity/chance to study organisms that are entirely foreign to the life on our planet. It might also help us understand more about life here — how life originated on Earth, how it evolves, and even how and where we might look for life on planets besides Earth and Mars. This leads to the third reason to look for evidence of ancient bodies of water on Mars. Any research concerning Mars will give scientists a better picture of that planet and ours, too — their origins, fates, etc. — because the two planets are so similar.

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